English Football League - Sky Bet League Two
Doncaster Rovers 1 - 0 Mansfield Town
Rowe 74
Attendance: 9903 (2010 from Mansfield)

Date: 8 April 2017

Martin Shaw at the Keepmoat Stadium

Mansfield Town were narrowly beaten 1-0 at Doncaster this afternoon. The win was enough for Doncaster to ensure promotion and they will probably end the season as champions. Their quality in the final third demonstrates that they are worthy champions. Mansfield remain 4 points behind the play-off places as 6th and 7th placed Exeter and Carlisle were also beaten, but there are more teams in the mix now with wins for Cambridge and Accrington. With 5 games left, Mansfield probably still need 4 wins to force their way into the play-offs which will be a tall order but it’s not all over. Mansfield put in a really good first half performance, competing well all over the pitch and working very hard, winning tackles to get the ball back and having much more than half of the possession but without creating many chances. It was spirited stuff and appreciated by the 2000 Stags fans who got behind the team really well. Doncaster had already shown their quality though with a couple of close calls despite not having much of the ball. Doncaster started to push the Stags back in the second half as their high quality midfielder James Coppinger, on as sub, started to pull the strings and Doncaster took the lead on 74 minutes. Coppinger put in a great corner from the left, Tommy Rowe lost his marker at the near post and headed across Kean into the right of the net. After the game Steve Evans said that it was George Taft who lost his marker, though from the video it looks like it is Danny Rose who is outjumped by Rowe, and Taft is left marking no-one. So perhaps a combination of Taft and Rose at fault.
The Stags were close to an equaliser two minutes later as Mal Benning crossed from the left, Shaq Coulthirst chested to Matt Green whose overhead kick was heading wide of the left post where Danny Rose turned it goalwards before it was headed off the line by Butler. There was controversy on 89 minutes as Stags sub Alfie Potter appeared to be pushed over in the area by Andy Butler. The referee waved away Mansfield’s appeals for a penalty. Steve Evans and Paul Raynor were furious on the touchline. Video footage confirms it was a clear penalty as Butler initially barges Potter (not a foul) but then pushes him over with his arms (definitely a foul). So the Stags fell to defeat as Doncaster fans celebrated promotion in a bumper 10,000 crowd. Doncaster’s quality in the final third showed and they just about deserved this victory in my opinion but it was spirited from Mansfield. The Stags travel to Wycombe on Friday afternoon and we haven’t done particularly well against Wycombe in recent times but Wycombe are not in the best of form and I believe it’s a game we can certainly win.

Mansfield Town failed to spoil Doncaster Rovers’ promotion party, as they went down 1-0 at the Keepmoat. Victory for Steve Evans’ men at the runaway leaders would have put the Stags within touching distance of the coveted top seven. However, defeat leaves them four points off the play-off spots, with just five games remaining. The only way Darren Ferguson’s dominant side would fail to secure their immediate return to League One was if Stevenage beat Colchester, and that was neigh on impossible as they went 4-0 down by half time. But they did not have to rely on other results as Tommy Rowe snapped up the points in the second half. Rovers had the better chances before the interval, but they could not quite beat impressive shot-stopper Jake Kean. Early on Kean had to have his wits about him to deny a header from English football’s most prolific frontman, John Marquis. Just after the half hour mark Malvind Benning threw himself in front of Rowe’s goal-bound strike. The Stags earned themselves a few free kicks in decent areas, but the quality of the delivery just was not there. On the stroke of half time Andy Williams missed a great chance for the hosts as he headed over the bar. After helping keep the game goalless down one end, Benning almost found the breakthrough as he effort marginally flew past the top corner. On the hour keeper Kean snuffed out the danger from substitute’s James Coppinger’s cross. With 18 minutes left Kean pulled off the best save of the game to keep Rowe’s fizzing daisy-cutter at bay. A couple of minutes later Kean was finally beaten as Rowe flicked Coppinger’s header past Kean. The Stags almost immediately levelled as the hosts cleared Danny Rose’s effort off the line after Matt Green’s overhead kick. Late on Ben Whiteman’s effort curled just wide as the Stags missed out on a share of the spoils.

Rovers were unchanged after the 5-1 win at Grimsby Town last week, with James Copping returning to the bench after struggling with an ankle injury. This was to prove crucial.

The first half passed without much to shout about for either side. Steve Evans’ well drilled outfit set up effectively to stifle the Rovers’ attacking flair.

The visiting keeper Jake Kean was the first called into action, stopping John Marquis’ early header with his legs.The best Rovers chance of the half came when Tommy Rowe got a bit of space eight yards out, shot, was blocked, then shot again, then the keeper saved, before another shot was blocked and the Stags eventually scrambled it away.

Ian Lawlor comfortably held the Stags’ best chance when he held Alex MacDonald’s shot after a corner - which started with six away players lining up on the byline beyond the goal before running back into the six-yard box - was cleared into his path.

The 40th minute saw two successive free-kicks, increasingly closer to the Rovers goal. The second, an inswinger from Joel Byrom from near the corner flag forced Lawlor into a punch. The resultant corner managed to sail straight through the six-yard box, evading everyone.

HALF-TIME | Rovers 0 Mansfield Town 0

There were no changes at the break and early in the second half a fiercely driven corner from Gary McSheffrey was headed on at the near post by Rowe, though Matt Green and MacDonald combined to get it away.

Mansfield went straight up the other end, where Rhys Bennett blazed over from 30 yards.

A double substitution on the hour mark saw an increase in intensity from Rovers’ attacks, with Coppinger and Alfie May coming off the bench. The home captain promptly went down the left and won himself a corner making Kean parry at his near post.

When Luke McCullough opted to not shoot 20 yards out, dead centre, he shifted it a couple of yards left to Rowe whose fierce left-footed strike needed Kean to dive to his right.

Just two minutes later, the deadlock was finally broken when substitute Coppinger won a corner which he delivered himself, right on a six-pence for Rowe to head in at the near post.

This punctured the tension in the stadium, with results elsewhere meaning a draw would secure promotion.

Mansfield did then have an attack of their own, but Danny Rose saw his overhead kick cleared off the line by Andy Butler.

But Ferguson’s men were soon right back down the other end with Blair putting in for John Marquis to blast home what he thought was the second of the game , only for the linesman’s flag to halt the Rovers’ celebrations.

Ben Whiteman curled a shot just wide of Lawlor’s upright, but Rovers held firm and can now start dreaming of finishing the season with a title.